The present paper returns the results of a project conducted in the “Germana Stefanini" Women's Prison in Rome. The initiative has had various editions with the aim of enhancing the benefits of books and reading in the prison context to promote paths of empowerment and redemption. The use of special texts (silent books or wordless picture books) and the methodological choices allowed the participants to experience a time of wonder and to consider beauty in all its forms as a resource for redefining their own identity. The space of punishment has thus been transformed into a valuable opportunity for learning outside the homologating and depersonalising logic of the disciplinary device, also in contrast with the stereotypes that still condition the biographies of many women.The present paper returns the results of a project conducted in the “Germana Stefanini” Women's Prison in Rome. The initiative has had various editions with the aim of enhancing the benefits of books and reading in the prison context to promote paths of empowerment and redemption. The use of special texts (silent books or wordless picture books) and the methodological choices allowed the participants to experience a time of wonder and to consider beauty in all its forms as a resource for redefining their own identity. The space of punishment has thus been transformed into a valuable opportunity for learning outside the homologating and depersonalising logic of the disciplinary device, also in contrast with the stereotypes that still condition the biographies of many women
